US Dept of Homeland Security sell their two AW139s

The US Dept of Homeland Security has sold their two AgustaWestland AW139s, as confirmed in recent days by an updated entry on the FAA register.

The purchaser is listed as Guardian Helicopters of Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta. The operator’s website says that Guardian Helicopters was formed in 1995 in Fort Nelson B.C. Operations were expanded and the head office was relocated to Calgary, Alberta. Guardian Helicopters operates throughout North America and Internationally. Guardian Helicopters has grown from a single Bell 206 JetRanger to a diversified fleet consisting of Bell, Eurocopter and McDonnell Douglas (MD) helicopters.

The pair were originally acquired in August 2007 by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine, and operated from Homestead Air Reserve Base. The AW139s were at that time equipped with Multipayload Electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) Sensor, Laser Designator combined with EO/IR, multimode weather radar and communication systems.

It is not known at this time what Guardian’s intentions are with these two aircraft, or the equipment level of each at the point of sale